Today is Monday and it is day 4 of the long awaited week-long (too short!) trip. It's 4.15am in villa Mahayani somewhere in the vicinity of Canggu. This 40 something woman can't sleep and for that she has only herself to blame. She has been over indulging in way too much deliciously stimulating Bali coffee you see. A predominantly devoted decaf drinker she finds herself now on a 24 hour high. Hubby is snoring happily in one of the 3 humungous villa bedrooms, the resident gecko is barking and the neighbourhood roosters are providing some comforting background noise. Other travel companions are 2 x 15 year old boys and 30 something step son with lovely girlfriend who has been providing some much needed female companionship. Oh well may as well get up and do something useful and sincere apologies for this long JBR - read on only if you have heaps of time up your sleeve.
Arrival day Thurs 8 Apr: Arrived in the middle of the day on Jetstar flight from Perth. Service was fine, the flight was on time and everything went without a hitch. We were dutifully met by our wonderful villa driver, Kadek whom we are very fortunate to have with us. Turns out this devoted family man, who wouldn't hurt a fly, is a survivor of the terrible bombing at the Sari club in Kuta. He was a member of the live stage band and if it weren't for the scars on his arms and the pain in his eyes nobody would ever know.
After a 40 minute drive we arrive at Villa Mahayani. We are all suitably impressed by the sheer size of the place. It is a little bit out of the way I suppose, still can't tell you the exact address and it is quite difficult to find (more of that later!) at the best if times but that was part of the attraction for us. This is our 4th trip to Bali, having previously stayed in hotels and resorts in Nusa Dua, Sanur and Legian. I am very happy to have given the villa thing a whirl and will certainly stay in villa type accommodation on future trips. Villa Mahayani consists of a central open air and open plan lounge, dining area and big kitchen. It has 3 big bedrooms running off the big veranda, each with it's own massive en-suite bathroom and dressing room. The furniture is very comfortable and the villa is nicely decorated. The main bedroom is upstairs and very private with a big balcony, small tv and bar fridge. The media room has a tv and dvd player and a good collection of books and magazines. All bedrooms are air-conditioned of course and the beds are all king size 4 posters. The main attraction however is the gorgeous approx 20m private pool, the use of our driver and van every day, inclusive Wi-Fi internet, tel and fax service, a very helpful butler, all inclusive laundry and our own chef who has cooked us a wonderful breakfasts every morning.
So after we checked out our digs, met all the staff, unpacked a bit, raided the fridge and dive bombed the pool it was on to an early dinner. It was a lovely warm and balmy evening and we decided to head off to Echo Beach for the famous sunset bbq. How delicious it was! Quite reasonably priced too. If not for the really dodgy road leading there this place would be very over crowded. There seems to be a bit of development happening in the area and before too long I suppose the road will be upgraded which would make it accessible to lots of tour buses, so get there before the ambience is completely ruined.
Day 1 Friday: We asked Kadek to take us to the Carre Four supermarket for some supplies and then off to Sogo Discovery Mall where the men could have haircuts and us girls could check out the shops a bit. Bought some good quality underwear from the small Marks and Spencers, had a Starbucks coffee (yetch) and met up for lunch at the Black Canyon. The food here is quite tasty. Only down side was the bit of extra crunch in my spicy green papaya and seafood salad. Turned out to be shards of glass. I didn't want to make a big fuss but thought it best to alert the waiter anyway who insisted on calling the manager who subsequently rushed over and apologised profusely (thought she was going to ask for my hand in marriage as she was almost on her knees pleading for forgiveness). No harm done, I kept saying and they removed the salad from the bill.
After lunch we headed over to Padang Padang Beach for a swim. This was well worth the trip. There are a lot of stairs which could make it difficult for some but it is an idyllic spot. I felt quite bad about chucking my towel on the sacred tree, for which I got severely reprimanded by one of the local toothless wise old women flogging sarongs and bracelets. My sincere apologies to the ppl of Bali as I didn't notice the black and white cloth around the trunk. Mental note: remember to pay more attention in future. It is difficult to get changed in private so best to wear bathers underneath clothes ;-). After our swim we headed off to Uluwatu Temple which is close by. You can buy bananas to feed the monkeys but this is fraught with danger. It gets very busy here at sunset and tourists from all parts of the world, interacting with the very obnoxious and sometimes even vicious monkeys, is entertainment in itself. One poor Korean girl got her hair scrunchy ripped out, stepson suffered two bites when he tried to gently push off his shoulder, a particularly virulent specimen and my bracelet got mistaken for a string of silver smarties. Anyway the view is worth the monkey stress - it is absolutely magnificent from up there. After viewing the temple we stayed for the Kecac dance which lasts an hour.
By now everybody was a little bit tired from the long day and as it was getting quite latish and we were still feeling grotty and sticky from the afternoon on the beach we decided to go nowhere for dinner. The kids wanted McDonalds though and Kadek obliged, I raced in and grabbed some burgers and a kiwi fruit sundae for me. We eventually got back to the villa at about 8pm had a swim and then crashed.
Day 2 Saturday: Because of last night's long and restful sleep I was up at 5am and decided I would wait until sunrise and then make use of one of the villa mountain bikes to explore the local area. I figured nobody would even notice my absence as they were all still peacefully asleep and I would be back well in time for breakfast at 8.30am. I stuck my mobile phone in my pocket and at the last minute shoved the butler's tel number in there as well - oh and some cash too. You just never know.... ahem.... I basically tried to stay on the one main road and, you know just go for a quick 30 minutes or so. The road was in very good condition and meandered through rice paddies, past lovely traditional homes, past schools and village shops and some farmlets. I even negotiated a few busy intersections and was having a great time racing the school kids on their bikes and feeling the wind in my hair. This is living! After about 30 minutes I decided it was prob time to head back. No need to overdo things you know. Anyway I turned around and went back EXACTLY the same way I came and even recognised all the points of reference I stored in my paltry little brain. Until suddenly things started to look decidedly unfamiliar (different but the same in a weird sort of way). OK............ no need to get into flap about it, I still have heaps of time. By now traffic was starting to build up, it was getting bloody hot and it was almost 8am! I have been pedalling for an hour and a half. WT - what happened to that turn-off?? My free spirited smile and look of glee turned into an intense frowning scowl. No problem, just stop, phone the butler and ask for directions. But phone wouldn't work even though it works in any other country in the world!! (Didn't I skim over some posts on here about unlocking phones a while back - dang should have read them properly.) Not that it mattered though because you couldn't hear a thing above the traffic noise. Mild panic turned into serious anxiety. I stopped at a small mobile phone shop with a particularly bored looking gentleman behind the counter. Hooray I thought, we're on to a winner here - he can understand a little bit of English. I asked politely if he had a phone I could use. He shook his head. Pardon me sir but I thought this was a phone shop... After much pleading, almost crying and buying a Vitamin C booster drink from his shop he relented. I phoned the butler who answered immediately (thank God!). I payed for the 3,000 rp drink with a 20,000 rp note and insisted he keep the change. 2 minutes later the butler arrived on a scooter. I was literally 500m away from ‘home'. Strolled in at 8.10am looking sheepishly out of sorts and drenched in sweat, collapsed into the pool and had a well deserved breakfast. I wonder how many thousands of tourists on scooters and bicycles get lost every week in Bali...
Other happenings on Day 2 were a few Seminyak shops, delicious tarts and eclairs at Café Moka, lunch at Grocer and Grind, Studio 5 for a massage and pedicure, pizza delivery for the 15 year olds and out to the atmospheric Living Room for dinner. All the above were very nice and I will recommend them but a word of caution about the Living Room. This is credit card territory. Especially if you are thinking of having a bit of the old vino to go with your meal. Not even if I was stinking rich would I pay more than 2 million rp for a bottle of pretty average Margaret River white. Dream on baby. But by the looks of it there were enough other suckers who were willing to part with their hard earned to justify its inclusion on the extensive wine list. This is a place where the beautiful people hang out so wear some bling ladies.
So if you have made it this far, thanks for reading. The sun is up now and another glorious day awaits. Who knows, maybe later on I will feel inspired to write about yesterday which was a day trip to rainy Ubud and surrounds and an accidental visit to the Safari Park.
Promise to self: Only 1 Bali coffee today.